BEFORE NICHE GHA 261 PROJECT
Prior to the introduction of the online licensing examination ( NICHE GHA 261), the Nursing and Midwifery Council had been conducting paperbased licensing examinations since its establishment in 1971. Examination papers had to be transported in huge bags to and from the examination centres to the Council. After the conduct of the examinations,
Assessors had to converge at one location to mark the scripts thus prolonging the time for the release of results. The conduct of the examinations was so laborious and tedious.
NICHE GHA 261 PROJECT
The Council together with a consortium composed by CINOP Global and Advisory Services (The Netherlands) and Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) initiated a fouryear project to strengthen the capacity of the Council to conduct a licensing examination through the use of advanced ICT solutions. In support of the project, the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands through the Capacity Building programme, NICHE of NUFFIC had since 2014 awarded a total grant of €1,067,250. 00 as funding for two separate projects as follows:
- Capacity building of Senior Staff on Strategic Management and Leadership Skills.
- Strengthening the capacity of the Council to conduct online Licensing Examinations for Nurses and Midwives.
The first project was implemented in 2014 and 2015, while the second was launched on November 1, 2016. With the implementation of the online licensing examination for nursing and midwifery trainees, Ghana became the first in Africa to conduct licensing examinations online.